Candidates' forum set for Tuesday night

fosters.com

Writer

Posted Oct. 17, 2013 at 3:15 AM

Posted Oct. 17, 2013 at 3:15 AM

SANFORD — The campaign trail will pass through the Sanford City Hall this Tuesday, Oct. 22, when the Sanford Strong Coalition hosts the annual “Candidates Night” in the council chambers at 919 Main Street.

The event is being held to provide Sanford residents, businesses and organizations with the opportunity to learn more about the candidates’ views on a variety of issues and to inform the Sanford electorate about their choices heading to the polls this November.

Candidates for mayor, city councilor and two school committee members will take part.

Usually, the Sanford-Springvale Chamber of Commerce hosts this event, with President Rick Stanley moderating, but this year there’s a twist — Stanley is one of the candidates. As a result, the Sanford Strong Coalition will sponsor the forum, and Sanford News Editor Shawn Sullivan will moderate.

The forum will start at 6 p.m. and will proceed in three segments in which hopefuls will deliver opening statements and afterward answer questions from Sullivan. Each segment will end with closing statements, in which candidates will make their last pitch of the evening to voters.

First up will be the candidates for the two three-year seats and the single unfinished term on the Sanford School Committee. Incumbents Donald Jamison and Robert Gendron and challengers John Roux and Scott Sheppard have been invited to participate; so too has Thomas Miscio, the lone contender for the unfinished term vacated by former member Adam Cote, who resigned in June to prepare for his Maine Army National Guard unit’s current deployment to Afghanistan.

Next will be the five candidates vying for one three-year term on the Sanford City Council — incumbent Ken Burgess and challengers Grady Fox, Robert Ege, Dianne Connolly and Victor DiGregorio all have been invited to participate.

Finally, Sanford’s three candidates for mayor, City Councilor Brad Littlefield, Chamber President Rick Stanley and Budget Committee Vice Chair Thomas Cote, will close out the forum with their opening statements, answers to questions and concluding statements.

Connie Roux, of Goodall Hospital’s Partners for Healthier Communities, will serve as timekeeper.

Voters have spent the last week or two sending the Sanford Strong Coalition their proposed questions, which have run the gamut of the city’s most pressing issues. The coalition has been meeting in recent weeks to create a final roster of questions that Sullivan will ask the candidates.

Harry Brown, the executive director of Strategies for a Stronger Sanford, said on Tuesday that every candidate except one — Robert Ege, in the council race — has accepted the invitation to participate in the forum and will be there.

“We are organizing the event to inform the Sanford electorate about their choices heading to the polls this November. There are many important issues at stake, and above all are those which impact Sanford’s youth — tomorrow’s leaders,” Brown said.

The Sanford Strong Coalition is a partnership of residents, organizations, businesses and others invested in the future of Greater Sanford. The Coalition provides ways for the community to share information and access resources, while supporting initiatives to strengthen the health, well-being, and success of Sanford’s children, youth and their families. The Coalition is a governed by a steering committee, staffed by Strategies for a Stronger Sanford, and supported by its members. Its headquarters is on Emery Street.

The public is invited to attend the forum, which also will be broadcast live on Sanford High School’s television station, WSSRTV, and “The Legends” on AM 1220 and FM 102.3 on the radio.

On Tuesday, Sullivan said he hopes voters will either attend the forum or tune in on TV or the radio.

“The upcoming election is an important one that will shape the direction that the city will take for years to come,” he said. “This forum also is the one chance for voters to see all the candidates together, in one place, to answer pressing questions and state their positions on a number of issues. We hope everyone walks away from this forum with a better idea of who should be Sanford’s first mayor, as well as who should be the city’s next councilor and school committee members.”

The city’s election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

If you have any questions during these days leading up to the event, please call Harry Brown at (207) 650-7778 or email him at hbrown@strongersanford.org.